-Dr. Narinder Batra elected unopposed as the President & Md. Mushtaque Ahmad as the Secretary General

New Delhi, October 13, 2014: Hockey India today announced its new Office Bearers during the 4th Hockey India Congress held at Hotel Holiday Inn in New Delhi. Dr. Narinder Batra who successfully completed his term of four years as the Secretary General was elected unopposed as President of Hockey India for a four year term starting 13 October 2014.

Dr. Batra’s dynamic leadership and players centric approach has already helped India bag medals at major international events including the Indian Junior Women Hockey Team winning the first ever medal in a FIH Junior Women World Cup 2013, Indian Women Hockey team winning the Bronze medal in the 2014 Asian Games and Indian Men Hockey Team winning the Silver medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games and Gold medal in the 2014 Asian Games. This was all possible because of his determination and vision and from here he aims to take the game a notch higher in the coming days.

Speaking on the occasion, Hon’ble Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge) said, “I would like to congratulate Hockey India and the Indian Men Hockey Team for making the country proud at the 17th Asian Games 2014 in Incheon. Winning Gold after 16 years is a big encouragement for all the hockey lovers in the country and this achievement is a positive sign of a new beginning of Hockey in India. I will extend complete support from the Ministry and myself to Hockey for competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2018 World Cup in India as I am very much confident that the team will come up with even better results in their upcoming and future tournaments.”

He further added, “Hockey India under the leadership of Dr. Narinder Batra is running well and has shown tremendous results and I am proud of it. I assure hundred percent support from my end as well as the Ministry towards the betterment of hockey.”

Speaking on his new appointment as President of Hockey India Dr. Narinder Batra said, “We welcome on board the new Office Bearers and I am confident that they share the same vision of Hockey India and with their coming on board they will now be responsible for taking ahead the legacy of Hockey in India. Also, being appointed as an unopposed President, I feel overwhelmed with the trust and faith that the members have showed in me. I shall strive to live up to the new role that I am stepping into and hoping to justice to it.”

He further added, “I would like to thank our Hon’ble Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge) Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal for attending and addressing the event and I am sure that with the support from the Sports Ministry, we will generate better results in the future. Hon’ble Minister is lucky for the Indian Hockey, since he took charge, the Indian Men Hockey team has won the Gold Medal at the Asian Games.”

For delivering better results and organising events for Hockey in India, Hon’ble Minister Sarbananda Sonowal presented the ‘Most Outstanding Member State Unit’ award to Hockey Karnataka and Outstanding Performance Award to Hockey India Staff Member Mr. Ashish Kulshrestha. On this occasion, Hon’ble Minister also released Hockey India Newsletters compilation book 2012-14.

Md. Mushtaque Ahmad who is also the General Secretary of Hockey Bihar was elected unopposed as Secretary General of Hockey India while Mr. Rajinder Singh from Hockey Jammu & Kashmir is elected unopposed as Treasurer of Hockey India.

The list of other Officer Bearers includes:

Senior Vice Presidents –

Ms. Mariamma Koshy (Kerala Hockey) – Elected Unopposed

Vice Presidents –

Ms. Gayathri Shetty (Hockey Karnataka) – Elected Unopposed

Dr. Shobha Singh (Hockey Rajasthan) – Elected Unopposed

Mr. Tapan Kumar Das (Assam Hockey)

Mr. Anandeshwar Pandey (Uttar Pradesh Hockey)

Joint Secretaries –

Ms. Asha Thakur (Delhi Hockey) – Elected Unopposed

Asima Ali (Hockey Jammu & Kashmir) – Elected Unopposed

Mr. Kishor Singh Bafila (Hockey Uttarakhand) – Elected Unopposed

Mr. Hitesh Sindwani (Delhi Hockey) – Elected Unopposed

Executive Board Members –

Ms. Madhu Katyal (Uttar Pradesh Hockey) – Elected Unopposed

Ms. Asunta Lakra (Hockey Jharkhand and Former Captain of Indian Women Hockey Team) – Elected Unopposed

Mr. Gyanendro Ningombam (Manipur Hockey) – Elected Unopposed

Mr. Firoz Ansari (Chhattisgarh Hockey) – Elected Unopposed

Mr. V A Shiyad (Hockey Andaman & Nicobar) – Elected Unopposed

The election was conducted by Returning Officer Justice Aruna Suresh, Retired Judge High Court. The 4th Hockey India Congress was held in the presence of Government Observer Mr. Hira Ballabh, ED, Finance Sports Authority of India and Indian Olympic Association Observer Mr. Kuldeep Vats.